ComplexGarden

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

2006-10-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are a specialist in estate agent fitzrovia, amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Palazzolo Acreide

2005-03-19T21:43:00.000-08:00

Town, Siracusa provincia, southeastern Sicily, Italy. It lies in the Iblei Mountains, west of Syracuse. The successor to the Syracusan colony of Acrae (founded nearby in 663 BC), which was ravaged by the Muslims in the 9th century, the town was ruled by a succession of families in the Middle Ages, later passing to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and eventually to the Kingdom of Italy.

Oraibi

2005-03-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

Also called Orayvi, or Old Oraibi, Hopi pueblo (village), Navajo county, northeastern Arizona, U.S. The pueblo is situated on the narrow, rocky Third Mesa of the Hopi Indian Reservation. It is the unofficial capital of the reservation and is thought to be the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United States (from about AD 1150). It lies at an elevation of nearly 6,500 feet (1,980 metres). Oraibi was the site of the San

Ojin

2005-03-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

In full Ojin Tenno, personal name Hondawake No Mikoto semilegendary 15th emperor of Japan, who according to tradition flourished in the 3rd–4th century. Ojin is believed to have consolidated imperial power, spearheaded land reform, and actively promoted cultural exchanges with Korea and China. It is said that highly skilled weaving techniques were brought from Korea during his reign. Chinese scholars introduced

Yoccoz, Jean-christophe

2005-03-12T16:41:00.000-08:00

Yoccoz was awarded the Fields Medal at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Zürich,

Davies (of Hereford), John

2005-03-11T10:40:00.000-08:00

Davies settled in Oxford and became known as the best penman of his day. As well as other religious verse treatises, he wrote Wittes Pilgrimage . . . (c. 1610), a collection of love sonnets; and Humours Heav'n on Earth; with the Civile Warres

Thames, River

2005-03-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

Ancient Tamesis or Tamesa , also called (in Oxford, England) River Isis chief river of southern England. Rising in the Cotswold Hills, its basin covers an area of approximately 5,500 square miles (14,250 square km). The traditional source at Thames Head, which is dry for much of the year, is marked by a stone in a field 356 feet (108.5 metres) above sea level and 3 miles (5 km) southwest of the town of Cirencester. Some think a tributary, the River Churn, has a better claim to

Visigothic Art

2005-03-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

Artistic style produced in southern France and Spain under the Visigoths, who ruled the region between the 5th and the 8th century AD. The style is largely the result of local Roman traditions combined with Byzantine influences. The effect of Germanic metalworking techniques is also seen in the decorative arts, but the ornamentation of these pieces, most notably a collection

Ragunan Zoological Gardens

2005-03-04T02:28:00.000-08:00

Also called Jakarta Zoological Gardens , Indonesian Kebun Binatang Ragunan , or Kebun Binatang Jakarta zoo in Jakarta, Indon., that is one of the world's notable collections of Southeast Asian flora and fauna. More than 3,500 specimens of approximately 450 animal species are exhibited on the 200-hectare (494-acre) park grounds. Among these are the orangutan, Sumatran serow, and various other rare animals of Indonesia. The zoo was founded in 1864 on a 4-hectare (11-acre) site and was moved to a new and much

French Confederation Of Christian Workers

2005-03-02T04:28:00.000-08:00

French Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens (CFTC), French labour-union federation that was founded in 1919 by Roman Catholic workers who opposed both the syndicalist and communist movements of the day. The confederation, based on Catholic social and anti-Marxist principles, rejected the theory of class warfare but occasionally collaborated on strikes with the leftist General Confederation of Labour (Confédération

Theaetetus

2005-03-01T04:21:00.000-08:00

Theaetetus was a disciple of Socrates and studied with Theodorus of Cyrene. He taught at some time in Heraclea (located in present-day southern Italy). Plato made Theaetetus the chief subject of two dialogues—Theaetetos (Theaetetus) and Sophistes (Sophist

Abstract Expressionism

2005-02-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

Broad movement in American painting that began in the late 1940s and became a dominant trend in Western painting during the 1950s. The most prominent American Abstract Expressionist painters were Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Mark Rothko. Others included Clyfford Still, Philip Guston, Helen Frankenthaler, Barnett Newman, Adolph Gottlieb, Robert

Beijing

2005-02-24T04:35:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Pei-ching , conventional Peking city, province-level shi (municipality), and capital of the People's Republic of China. Few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. The city has been an integral part of China's history over the past eight centuries, and nearly every major building of any age in Beijing has at least some

Dura-europus

2005-02-23T03:07:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Doura-Europus ruined Syrian city, located in the Syrian desert near Dayr az-Zawr. Excavations were carried out first by Franz Cumont (1922–23) and later by M. Rostovtzev (1928–37). Dura was originally a Babylonian town, but it was rebuilt as a military colony about 300 BC by the Seleucids and given the alternative name of Europus after the native city in Macedonia of its reputed founder, Seleucus I Nicator.

Sorby, Henry Clifton

2005-02-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

Sorby's early investigations were concerned with agricultural chemistry, but his interests soon turned to geology. He published works dealing with the physical geography

Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke Of

2005-02-19T02:15:00.000-08:00

Grandson of the 2nd duke, Charles Fitzroy (1683–1757), and great-grandson of the 1st, he was educated at Westminster School and Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was secretary of state in 1765 under the Marquess of Rockingham but retired the following year. William

Tale Of Genji, The

2005-02-14T08:36:00.000-08:00

Japanese Genji Monogatari, masterpiece of Japanese literature by the Lady Murasaki Shikibu, written toward the start of the 11th century. It is considered the oldest full novel in the world and one of the finest. Most of the story is concerned with the loves of Prince Genji and the different women in his life, each of whom is exquisitely delineated. The work is supremely sensitive to human emotions

Waterford

2005-02-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

Town (township), New London county, southeastern Connecticut, U.S., on Long Island Sound just west of the city of New London. The area, settled about 1653, was separated from New London and incorporated as a town in 1801. Drained by the Thames and Niantic rivers, it has a name descriptive of local fordable shallows. Early industries included paper mills and a granite quarry, which was

Wilfrid, Saint

2005-02-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest English saints, a monk and bishop who was outstanding in bringing about close relations between the Anglo-Saxon Church and the papacy. He devoted his life to establishing the observances of the Roman Church over those of the Celtic Church and fought

Agricola, Alexander

2005-02-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

Agricola was educated in the Netherlands and entered the service of Charles VII of France. He later went to Milan and in 1474 was at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici. The same year he returned to the Netherlands. In 1500 he became chaplain and chanter to Philip the Fair of Burgundy, whom he accompanied

Elizabeth Stuart

2005-02-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

The daughter of James VI of Scotland (later James I of Great Britain) and Anne of Denmark, Elizabeth in 1606 came to the British royal court, where her beauty and charm attracted much attention and where she soon became a favourite subject of the poets. Gustavus

Woman Suffrage

2005-02-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

Women were excluded from voting in ancient Greece and Republican Rome, as well as in the few democracies that had emerged in Europe by the end of the 18th century. When the franchise was widened, as it was in the United Kingdom in 1832, women continued to be denied all voting rights. The question of women's voting

Ant

2005-02-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

Any member of the approximately 8,000 species of the insect family Formicidae (order Hymenoptera). Ants occur worldwide but are especially common in hot climates. All ants are social in habit; i.e., they live together in organized colonies, and they range in size from 2 to about 25 millimetres (about 0.08 to 1 inch). Their colour is usually yellow, brown, red, or black. A few genera

Székesfehérvár

2005-02-01T19:00:00.000-08:00

A Roman settlement, Herculea, superseded an earlier Celtic village on the site; in the 10th century it was chosen by Stephen I, king of Hungary, as capital of the Hungarian kingdom, which it remained until the 16th century. Then known as Alba Regia,

Pacific Islands, Melanesia

2005-01-30T09:06:00.000-08:00

This is a region of unending contrast. “Beach” populations, who maintain advantages from coastal trading and cultural exchanges, may be compared with more traditional and isolated “bush” populations in the interiors of the larger islands. Polynesian influence touches Fiji and a few outlying islands to the northwest. The massive extent of New Guinea, with its thousands

Wu Li

2005-01-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

Wu became a convert to Catholicism and in 1681 went to Macao Island (on the southeast coast of China), where, without family obligations after the deaths of his mother and wife and the marriage of his two daughters, he entered the

Hand

2005-01-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

Grasping organ at the end of the forelimb of certain vertebrates, exhibiting great mobility and flexibility in the digits and in the whole organ. It is made up of the wrist joint, the carpal bones, metacarpal bones, and phalanges. The digits include a medial thumb (when viewed with the palm down), containing two phalanges, and four fingers, each containing three

Cochin, Charles-nicolas, The Younger

2005-01-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

The son of Charles-Nicolas the Elder (1688–1754), from whom he learned engraving, Cochin rose to national prominence early in his career. As a member of the academy (admitted in 1751) and the keeper of the king's drawings (a post he was given in 1752), he was officially enabled to exert his influence on the artistic taste of

Macken, Walter

2005-01-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

Macken was an actor and stage manager in Galway, where he became actor-manager-director of the Gaelic Theatre. He was also connected with the famous Abbey Theatre

Tefé

2005-01-19T22:29:00.000-08:00

City, central Amazonas estado (“state”), northwestern Brazil. Founded by missionaries as Nogueira in the 17th century and also called Ega at one time, Tefé lies on the left (north) bank of the portion of the Amazon River known as the Solimões, on the lake formed by the mouth of the Tefé River. River steamers and hydroplanes use facilities at Tefé, which ships Brazil nuts, tobacco,

Smith, Joseph

2005-01-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

Smith grew up in western New York at a time of intense religious revivalism. He was a literate but unschooled lad from a large family, and his neighbours at Palmyra,

Sax, Antoine-joseph

2005-01-16T00:20:00.000-08:00

Sax was the son of Charles Joseph Sax (1791–1865), a maker of wind and brass instruments, as well as of pianos, harps, and guitars. Adolphe studied the flute and clarinet at the Brussels Conservatory and in 1842 went to Paris. There he exhibited the saxophone

Ando Shoeki

2005-01-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

Ando was a native of Akita. He practiced medicine at Hachinohe, in the present Aomori prefecture, but became prominent as a social thinker in the 1750s. Ando was critical of the feudal society

Florida Bay

2005-01-11T06:45:00.000-08:00

Triangular-shaped shallow body of water between the Gulf of Mexico and Biscayne Bay at the southern end of Florida, U.S. The bay, which covers about 850 square miles (2,200 square km), is partially sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean on the south and east by the Florida Keys. The average depth is about 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 metres), and the area is scattered with small islands. Mangroves and sea grasses

Ako

2005-01-10T01:59:00.000-08:00

City, Hyogo ken (prefecture), western Honshu, Japan. During the Heian period (794–1185), it was a seaside resort for courtesans from Kyoto. It became a castle town in the 17th century, when the powerful Ikeda clan took up residence. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the establishment of chemical factories and steel mills has transformed Ako into one of Japan's most polluted industrial

Myanmar (burma)

2005-01-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

In late May Myanmar's military junta, the State

Paraboloid

2005-01-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

An open surface generated by rotating a parabola (q.v.) about its axis. If the axis of the surface is the z axis and the vertex is at the origin, the intersections of the surface with planes parallel to the xz and yz planes are parabolas (see Figure, top). The intersections of the surface with planes parallel to and above the xy plane are circles. The general equation for this

Roundelay

2005-01-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

A poem with a refrain that recurs frequently or at fixed intervals, as in a rondel. The term is also loosely used to refer to any of the fixed forms of poetry (such as the rondeau, the rondel, and the roundel) that use refrains extensively.

Altria Group

2005-01-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

The ancestor of the present company was incorporated in 1919 as Philip Morris & Company, Ltd. Inc., acquiring the assets

Force Acts

2004-12-30T01:02:00.000-08:00

The major provisions of the acts authorized federal authorities to enforce penalties upon anyone interfering with the registration,

Gao Xingjian

2004-12-28T02:14:00.000-08:00

Gao was educated in state schools and from 1957 to 1962 attended the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute,

Mahavira

2004-12-26T01:18:00.000-08:00

Also known as Vardhamana Epithet of Vardhamana, the last of the 24 Tirthankaras (“Ford-makers,” i.e., saviours who promulgated Jainism), and the reformer of the Jain monastic community. According to the traditions of the two main Jain sects, the Shvetambara (“White-robed”) and the Digambara (“Sky-clad,” i.e., naked), Mahavira became

Liqueur

2004-12-24T13:34:00.000-08:00

The word liqueur is derived from the Latin liquefacere,

Nuclear Engineering, Early schools

2004-12-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

In 1946 Clinch College was established at Oak Ridge. In its first year 35 American participants from universities, industry, the

Müntzer, Thomas

2004-12-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

Thomas Müntzer was the son of a burgher in Stolberg in the Harz Mountains. Of his childhood and youth very little is known. His name appears in the 1506 register of the University of Leipzig, and in 1512 he attended the University of Frankfurt an der Oder, later earning the academic ranks of master of arts and bachelor of theology. Müntzer became a linguistic specialist in Latin,

Ryazan

2004-12-19T00:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Riazan, or R'azan ', city and administrative centre of Ryazan oblast (province), western Russia. It lies along the Oka River on the site of the ancient town of Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, about 120 miles (193 km) southeast of Moscow. The original Ryazan, first recorded in 1095, lay downstream at the Pronya confluence. The seat of the early principality of Ryazan, it was destroyed in 1237 by the Mongols; only the ruins

Hooded Shrimp

2004-12-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

Any member of the order Cumacea (superorder Peracarida), a group of small, predominantly marine crustaceans immediately recognizable by their unusual body shape. The head and thorax are wide and rounded, in sharp contrast to the slender, cylindrical, flexible abdomen from which extends a long, forked tail. About 1,000 species are known. The body of most hooded shrimp measures

La Guardia, Fiorello H.

2004-12-14T00:07:00.000-08:00

La Guardia was reared in Arizona and at the age of 16 moved to Budapest with his mother. He was employed at the U.S. consulate there, and he later served in the American consulates at Trieste and Fiume, returning to the United States in 1906. While working at Ellis Island

Earth, Composition of the core

2004-12-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

Aside from having a high density, the generation of the magnetic field also requires that the core, unlike the mantle, be metallic. Birch's conclusion in 1952 was that iron is the most plausible constituent of the core. This was bolstered by subsequent work that has shown that iron is by far the most abundant element in the cosmos with density, elasticity, and electrical properties

Papini, Giovanni

2004-12-11T16:13:00.000-08:00

Though largely self-educated,

Quintillus, Marcus Aurelius Claudius

2004-12-09T23:33:00.000-08:00

Roman emperor in AD 270, who died or was killed a few weeks after being proclaimed emperor.

Tor

2004-12-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

Exposed rock mass of jointed and broken blocks. Tors are seldom more than 15 metres (50 feet) high and often occur as residues at the summits of inselbergs and at the highest points of pediments. Tors usually overlie unaltered bedrock and are thought to be formed either by freeze–thaw weathering or by groundwater weathering before exposure. There is often evidence of spheroidal

Eichmann, Adolf

2004-12-05T22:56:00.000-08:00

During World War I, Eichmann's family moved from Germany to Linz, Austria. His pre-Nazi life was rather ordinary. He worked as a traveling salesman in Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) for an

A-pao-chi

2004-12-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

Elected to a three-year term as great khan of the Khitans, A-pao-chi refused to resign at the end of his term but made himself king of the Khitan nation. After the collapse in 907 of T'ang rule in China, A-pao-chi made himself emperor and by 916 had set up a Chinese-style dynasty, with

Pacific Islands

2004-12-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

Ron Crocombe, The South Pacific (1983); and Frederica M. Bunge and Melinda W. Cooke (eds.), Oceania, a Regional Study, 2nd ed. (1985), provide comprehensive information. Large-scale maps are found in Atlas of the South Pacific, 2nd ed. (1986), published by the New Zealand government. Herold J. Wiens, Atoll Environment and Ecology (1962), explores the physical characteristics of Pacific Islands environments. The classic demographic study is Norma McArthur, Island Populations of the Pacific (1967, reprinted 1983); see also Vern Carroll (ed.), Pacific Atoll Populations (1975). On physical anthropology, see William Howells, The Pacific Islanders (1973). F.R. Fosberg (ed.), Man's Place in the Island Ecosystem (1963); and Douglas L. Oliver, Oceania: The Native Cultures of Australia and the Pacific Islands, 2 vol. (1989), survey aspects of Pacific Islands societies. University of the South Pacific, Institute of Pacific Studies, Pacific Tourism, as Islanders See It (1980), analyzes the impact of tourism. Current writings about the area are found in Pacific Islands Business (monthly, Fiji); Pacific Magazine (bimonthly, Hawaii); and Pacific Islands Monthly (Australia). John Carter (ed.), Pacific Islands Yearbook, 15th ed. (1984), is a detailed reference work on contemporary conditions and events. For further research, see C.R.H. Taylor, A Pacific Bibliography: Printed Matter Relating to the Native Peoples of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia, 2nd ed. (1965); and Bibliographie de l'Océanie, published irregularly by the Société des Océanistes in Paris.

Jevons, William Stanley

2004-11-29T19:34:00.000-08:00

English logician and economist whose book The Theory of Political Economy (1871) expounded the “final” (marginal) utility theory of value. Jevons's work, along with similar discoveries made by Karl Menger in Vienna (1871) and by Léon Walras in Switzerland (1874), marked the opening of a new period in the history of economic

Palau, Flag Of

2004-11-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

As part of the United States-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), Palau was under the flags of the United Nations, the United States, and the Trust Territory. Local desire for a separate state and government was realized on January 1, 1981, and a Palauan flag was hoisted on that occasion. A competition had been held in 1979 that resulted in more than a thousand

Amulet

2004-11-25T05:31:00.000-08:00

Natural amulets

Harcourt, Sir William

2004-11-22T05:54:00.000-08:00

A lawyer from 1854, Harcourt briefly taught international law at the University of Cambridge. Entering the House of Commons in 1868, Harcourt served Prime

Ara

2004-11-20T13:49:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Arrah city, Bihar state, northeastern India. The city is a major rail and road junction. Agricultural trade and oilseed milling are carried on there. It is the site of several colleges affiliated with Magadh University. The Little House at Ara is a building that was defended by the British against Kunwar Singh during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. Ara was constituted a municipality

All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.

2004-11-19T22:38:00.000-08:00

Japanese Zen Nippon Kuyu, the largest domestic air carrier in Japan, and one of the largest in the world. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Tokyo. Under the Japanese government's strict regulation of civil aviation, All Nippon Airways was basically restricted to carrying passengers and freight on Japan's major domestic routes, while Japan Air Lines basically monopolized

Switzerland, Roman Switzerland

2004-11-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

From AD 101 to 150 Celtic, Rhaetian, and Roman peoples lived together in almost unbroken peace. The Romans enlarged the old Celtic settlements and built new towns such as Augusta Raurica (now Augst), on the Rhine east of Basel; Dunum (Thun), at the head of Lake Thun (Thuner See); Novodunum (Nyon), on the shores of Lake Geneva; Aventicum (Avenches), near Lake Morat; Eburodunum (Yverdon), on the southwest

France, History Of, The prewar years

2004-11-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

From 1899 to 1905 a fairly coherent coalition of left-wing and centre parties (the so-called Bloc Républicain) provided France with stable government. The Cabinets headed by Waldeck-Rousseau in 1899–1902 and Émile Combes in 1902–1905 managed to liquidate the Dreyfus affair and to carry through the anticlerical reforms that culminated in the separation of church and state. The Entente Cordiale

Muravyov, Mikhail Nikolayevich, Graf

2004-11-11T18:15:00.000-08:00

Muravyov was the grandson of Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov, known as the “hangman of Wilno” for his

Sherwood, Robert E.

2004-11-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

Sherwood was an indifferent student at Milton Academy and Harvard University, failing the freshman rhetoric course while performing well and happily on the Lampoon, the humour magazine, and with the Hasty Pudding club, which

Constructivism

2004-11-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

Russian Konstruktivizm Russian artistic and architectural movement that was first influenced by Cubism and Futurism and is generally considered to have been initiated in 1913 with the “painting reliefs”—abstract geometric constructions—of Vladimir Tatlin. The expatriate Russian sculptors Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo joined Tatlin and his followers in Moscow, and upon publication

Sankara

2004-11-04T04:20:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Shankara , also called Sankaracarya philosopher and theologian, most renowned exponent of the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy, from whose doctrines the main currents of modern Indian thought are derived. He wrote commentaries on the Brahma-sutra and the principal Upanisads, affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality

Ramesseum

2004-11-02T19:42:00.000-08:00

Funerary temple of Ramses II (1279–13 BC), erected on the west bank of the Nile River at Thebes in Upper Egypt. The temple, famous for its 57-foot (17-metre) seated statue of Ramses II (of which only fragments are left), was dedicated to the god Amon and the deceased king. The walls of the Ramesseum, which is only about half preserved, are decorated with reliefs, including scenes depicting the

Devizes

2004-10-31T09:33:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Kennet district, administrative and historical county of Wiltshire, England. It lies along the disused Kennet and Avon Canal, at the edge of Roundway Down. It was the site of a Roman fortification, Castrum Divisarum; and Roger, bishop of Salisbury, built a castle there about 1132. The name Devizes possibly came from a medieval Latin reference to the castle ad

Levine, Jack

2004-10-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

Trained first at the Jewish Welfare Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and later at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Levine also studied at Harvard University from 1929 to 1931. From 1935 to 1940 he was intermittently part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Egypt, Arabization

2004-10-28T01:36:00.000-07:00

The Arabization of Egypt continued at a gradual pace. The early Fatimids' reliance on Berber troops was soon balanced by the importation of Turkish, Sudanese, and Arab contingents. The Fatimids are said to have used thousands of nomadic Arabs in the Egyptian cavalry and to have further stimulated Arabization by settling large numbers of Arabian tribesmen in Upper Egypt

West Germany

2004-10-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

From 1949 to 1990, a republic consisting of the western two-thirds of what is now Germany. West Germany was created in 1949 when the United States, Great Britain, and France consolidated those zones, or portions, of Germany that they had occupied at the end of World War II. When West and East Germany were reunited in 1990, West Germany's constitution and official name (Federal Republic of Germany)

China

2004-10-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

Despite China's size, the wealth of its resources, and the fact that more than 20 percent of the world's population lives within its borders, its role in the world economy traditionally has been relatively small. Since the late 1970s, however, when China decided to increase its interaction with the international economy, its role in world trade has steadily grown and its importance

Acapulco

2004-10-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

In full Acapulco De Juárez, resort and port, Guerrero estado (“state”), southwestern Mexico. Situated on a deep, semicircular bay, Acapulco has the best harbour on the Pacific coast of Mexico and one of the finest natural anchorages in the world. The town lies on a narrow strip of land between the bay and the steeply rising mountains that encircle it. From May to November the climate is hot, humid, and

Vitamin, Vitamin K group

2004-10-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

Vitamin K1 (20) is synthesized by plants; the members of the vitamin K2 (30) series are of microbial origin. Vitamin K2 (20) is the important form in mammalian tissue; all other forms are converted to K2 (20) from vitamin K3. Since vitamin K3 does not accumulate in tissue, it does not furnish any dietary vitamin K. Vitamins K4, K5, K6, and K7 have been synthesized and have vitamin K activity, but they are

Chianciano Terme

2004-10-17T00:08:00.000-07:00

Town and mineral spa, Siena provincia, Toscana (Tuscany) regione, central Italy. It lies at an elevation of 1,500 feet (450 m), just southeast of Montepulciano. The mineral springs, which have been frequented since Etruscan times, are located about 1.25 miles (2 km) from the town; they are a popular tourist attraction, and there are numerous hotels for the accommodation of visitors. The town

Italy, The early years

2004-10-16T03:17:00.000-07:00

Interest in the French Revolution was enhanced by the waning of the reformist impulse of the 1780s in the Italian states. Educated landowners and entrepreneurs who had put their trust in the enlightened rulers of their own states and had looked forward to important administrative and political reforms were disappointed. The French example gave them new hope. During

Gaborone

2004-10-13T05:02:00.000-07:00

Formerly (until 1969) Gaberones, town, capital of Botswana. The seat of government was transferred there from Mafeking (now spelled Mafikeng), South Africa, in 1965, one year before Botswana became independent of Britain. Gaborone is located on the Cape-Zimbabwe railway and is the site of government offices, parliament buildings, health facilities, a thermal power station, and an airport. It is the seat of

'awali

2004-10-09T05:07:00.000-07:00

Municipality in the state and emirate of Bahrain, on central Bahrain island, in the Persian Gulf. Founded in the 1930s by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), it is situated just north of Bahrain's oil fields and southwest of the country's oil refinery, one of the largest in the world. The municipality was built to house the main offices, headquarters staff, and foreign executives

Yin-ch'uan

2004-10-07T01:40:00.000-07:00

Pinyin Yinchuan , conventional Yinchwan capital of Hui Autonomous Region of Ningsia, north-central China. The city is located near the western bank of the upper course of the Huang Ho, near the western end of the Great Wall of China in the south-central section of the Ho-lan Mountains and Ordos Desert. It is served by a river port at Heng-ch'eng, about 9.5 miles (15 km) to the east. Until the 1950s the river, which is navigable downstream

Industrial Glass, Tableware

2004-10-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

Tableware tumblers are made by blowing glass at the end of a blowing pipe into a split paste-mold. The paste-mold is made of cast iron and is lined with a wetted cork-type or pasted-sawdust material. The resulting steam cushion gives a smooth finish to the glass, which is rotated in the mold during the blowing step. The formed ware is then gently knocked off the pipe by a light

Dorris, Michael Anthony

2004-10-03T01:30:00.000-07:00

American writer whose best-known book, the 1989 National Book Award-winning The Broken Cord, chronicled the struggle his adopted son faced as a result of fetal alcohol syndrome; suffering from chronic depression, separated from his wife, writer Louise Erdrich, and facing legal difficulties, Dorris took his own life (b. Jan 30, 1945--found dead April 11, 1997).

Burette

2004-10-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Buret, laboratory apparatus used in quantitative chemical analysis to measure the volume of a liquid or a gas. It consists of a graduated glass tube with a stopcock (turning plug, or spigot) at one end. On a liquid burette, the stopcock is at the bottom, and the precise volume of the liquid dispensed can be determined by reading the graduations marked on the glass tube at the liquid

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

2004-09-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Mauna Loa, located in the south-central

Earth, Matching continental outlines

2004-09-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

Early geographers making maps of the South Atlantic Ocean were probably the first to notice the similarity of the outlines of South America and Africa and to wonder if these two continents might have been together at one time. It was not until the early 20th century, however, that Alfred Wegener of Germany used the geography of the Atlantic coastlines, along with geologic

Aliphatic Compound

2004-09-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

Any chemical compound belonging to the organic class in which the atoms are not linked together to form a ring. One of the major structural groups of organic molecules, the aliphatic compounds include the alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes, and substances derived from them—actually or in principle—by replacing one or more hydrogen atoms by atoms of other elements or groups

Phase Diagram

2004-09-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

Graph showing the limiting conditions for solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of a single substance or of a mixture of substances while undergoing changes in pressure and temperature or in some other combination of variables, such as solubility and temperature. The Figure shows a typical phase diagram for a one-component system (i.e., one consisting of a single pure

Sa'id Pasha

2004-09-22T02:28:00.000-07:00

Sa'id, the fourth son of the viceroy Muhammad 'Ali Pasha, was educated in Paris and, in 1854, succeeded 'Abbas I as viceroy of Egypt. He was influenced by Western forms of landownership, and,

East Aurora

2004-09-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

Village, Erie county, western New York, U.S. It lies 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Buffalo and, oddly enough, 90 miles (145 km) west of Aurora. Settled in 1804, it was incorporated as Willink in 1849 and as East Aurora in 1874. Inspired by the English designer William Morris and his communal Kelmscott Press, the editor and publisher Elbert Hubbard established the Roycroft Press in East Aurora in 1893; he later

Ghanzi

2004-09-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

The surrounding area comprises state-owned

Ireland

2004-09-14T04:53:00.000-07:00

Even before September the slowdown in the U.S. had begun to have an impact on Ireland. As

Bellay, Guillaume Du, Seigneur (lord) De Langey

2004-09-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

The eldest of six brothers of a noble Angevin family, du Bellay was educated at the Sorbonne. He fought in Flanders and in Italy and was eventually, with Francis I, taken prisoner by the Holy Roman emperor Charles V's troops

Mid Devon

2004-09-09T00:29:00.000-07:00

District, administrative and historic county of Devon, southwestern England, located between the bleak moorlands of Exmoor and Dartmoor. Mid Devon is a heavily dissected interior plateau 400 to 800 feet (120 to 245 metres) in elevation. It has variable soil types suited for grassland cultivation, except in the south-central area where the merging Exe, Culm, and Yeo river valleys

'arad

2004-09-07T04:30:00.000-07:00

Town, southern Israel, in the northeast Negev, named for the biblical Arad, the ruins of which are visible at Tel 'Arad, about 5 1/2 miles (9 km) east-northeast. The book of Numbers (21:1–3) tells how the Canaanite king of 'Arad fought the Israelites during the exodus from Egypt, but his cities were “utterly destroyed” by Israel's armies. The city's name appears on the Temple of Amon, al-Karnak, Egypt,

Felting

2004-09-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

Consolidation of certain fibrous materials by the application of heat, moisture, and mechanical action, causing the interlocking, or matting, of fibres possessing felting properties. Such fibres include wool, fur, and certain hair fibres that mat together under appropriate conditions because of their peculiar structure and high degree of crimp (waviness). Wool

Fruitworm Beetle

2004-09-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Any of a few genera of insects in the family Byfuridae (order Coleoptera) whose larvae feed on fruit. A common example of this family of small, hairy, oval beetles is the raspberry fruitworm (Byturus rubi). The small, pale larva, which is covered with short fine hairs, attacks the raspberry fruit. The adult, which ranges in colour from reddish yellow to black, is about 4 mm (0.16 inch)

Skelton, Red

2004-08-31T23:43:00.000-07:00

Byname of Richard Bernard Skelton U.S. pantomimist and radio and television comedian, host, and star performer of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) variety program The Red Skelton Show from 1951 to 1971. In this television series Skelton re-created a number of characters—among them Clem Kaddiddlehopper, Sheriff Deadeye, Junior, the Mean Widdle

Salem

2004-08-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

Town (township), Rockingham county, southeastern New Hampshire, U.S., just west of Haverhill, Massachusetts. The town includes the communities of Salem, Salem Depot, and North Salem. Originally a part of Haverhill, it was set off in 1725 and incorporated as Methuen. The final decision of the Massachusetts–New Hampshire boundary line (1741) divided the town; the New Hampshire portion

Taconic Range

2004-08-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

Part of the Appalachian mountain system, U.S., extending southward for 150 miles (240 km) from a point southwest of Brandon, Vt., to northern Putnam county, New York. It rises to Mount Equinox (3,816 feet [1,163 m]) in Vermont and includes Mount Frissell (2,380 feet [725 m]), the highest point in Connecticut. In Massachusetts the mountains constitute the western section of the Berkshire Hills. Taconic State

Skarzysko-kamienna

2004-08-24T01:11:00.000-07:00

Town, Kielce województwo (province), southeastern Poland, on the Kamienna River. An important metallurgical centre since the end of World War II (1945) and rail junction on the Warsaw–Kraków line, it is part of the Staropolskie Zaglebie Przemyslowe, or the Old Poland Industrial Basin, which encompasses the area surrounding Skarzysko-Kamienna and the Góry Swietokrzyskie (Holy